Tales of adventures in quilting, gardening, photography and cooking from the Kingdom of Chiconia

Bee, Myself and I #2

I finally got to the point where I could start stitching the first couple of hatbox blocks. Only I didn’t leave it at two…

It made a few things clear:

• I definitely need tear away stabiliser.
• Starching the fabric for the appliqué pieces helps a lot.
• I can stop being neurotic about the Y seams at the intersection of each cubbyhole.

Up to this point, I’ve used fusible web behind each piece when I’ve done machine appliqué. It has the virtue of holding everything firmly in place while I’m stitching, but the disadvantage is that it adds stiffness and a small amount of extra bulk. Also, it makes trimming out the fabric behind it quite hard. Not using the fusible web means that the pieces can shift a fair bit, so I’ve been hand-basting, which seems to do the trick, even if it’s a bit time-consuming. I’m happy with the result. The stabiliser stops puckering at the seam and channelling of the blanket stitch, so things stay nice and flat.

As for the Y seams, well, that whole section gets cut away, so on the first block I evaded the issue by not sewing completely into the corners. Slack, I know, but it worked! And having taken the pressure off myself, the next Y seams were perfect anyway…

The trickiest part is keeping the long thin banana shape of the hatbox rim stable. Hence my extensive use of starch, which seems to do the trick in preventing it warping or stretching and makes the fabric crisper while I’m drawing around the templates.

I love these blocks as a way of showcasing the fabrics I’ve been collecting for this quilt for over 5 years… It’s nice not be cutting them up too much, and as an added bonus, it’s generating some very nice scraps for my postage stamp blocks :-). Oh, and at the rate I’m going, this project will take a lot less than a year!

Don’t forget to hop over to Carla’s blog to see what the others are up to. You can also click on the Bee, Myself and I button in the left hand column to go straight to the bee page.

What a unique choice of theme. I still have two of my grandmother’s hat boxes, neither one as colorful as the ones you’re creating, but it reminds me that I’ve long intending to grow into a woman who wears interesting hats. I’ve got to stop putting that off!

The original design is six by six, with sashing and corner posts between each block to give it substance. I’m thinking I shall do the same. I have made the blocks a little smaller than the original so the quilt is not quite so enormous, but at the rate I’m making them, it won’t take me too long!

I had fabric like the green and white once. Your fabrics make very convincing hatboxes. I remember the days, both of hats and great hat boxes. But I haven’t worn hats (other than keep warm in winter type) for a long time.

My mother had just one, quite plain, in highly polished tan leather with a handle for travelling. I have no idea what happened to it… I keep my hats on a high shelf these days – they need to be ventilated in this humid climate or I’d be finding mildew on them in the Wet season…

Behind each hatbox is the junction where all the background fabrics come together, which is the Y seam I was talking about. You need a solid base to appliqué the box to, not just a floppy strip around the outside, so you have to make up a square first of all, and then trim away behind the hatbox once it’s sewn on, to reduce bulk.

I love your fabric choices!
What if you used the ‘doughnut method’ to apply a narrow ring of fusible web just around the outside of each piece? It would hold things in place while you sew but avoid the stiffness and trimming problems.

I have plenty more pretty ones to show off next time!
To be honest, I’m not feeling a lack of the fusible stuff. The way I’m doing it works very well, and the blocks are lovely and supple afterwards, which will be much nicer to work with if I end up hand quilting it (which is by no means certain yet).

So pretty. Do you have the pattern for the hat box?
I have about 110 hats. I love to wear them. These are worm mostly to church. Then I have other hats that are worn during the week, I really enjoy hats and when worn to church they really look beautiful.
This quilt I will try to make. But if the blocks are larger l think I’ll do that size.